The Ones That Come Easy
by Ali-Chan1
Summary: She had never been at a loss for words before and he had never been able to say the right words in the right moment, here they were and he was saying all the things she had wanted him to say months ago and expressing the things she had needed to hear.


_**The Ones That Come Easy**_

It should have been the perfect moment. Her entire life Rachel Berry has built up prom to be the epitome of her high school career. She has a date, a sweet boy that she had once fancied herself in love with but can now settle on a solid friendship with. She has the perfect dress: think _Pretty in Pink _meets Pretty Pretty Princess. In a couple weeks she would be leaving this school with actual friends she would keep in touch with. It was all better than she had ever imagined it, so why was she sitting in the corner dangerously close to the one boy who had broken her heart?

"I thought our story was epic, you know. You and me." He leans closer so she can smell the alcohol on his breath but she also hears the honesty in his words. Even if she wishes she can't. She can read the pain in his eyes even though she's tried to push away the guilt for putting it there. She had ended things because she was tired of them hurting each other, she had been the one to make the move toward the inevitable.

_So you just fucking walk in here declare it's over and I'm not supposed to expect a reason?_

"Epic how?" She swallows hard. Honestly she's not sure she wants to hear the answer to that question. Because she's Rachel Berry and she thinks she knows what he means. She can see it written across his face and and the little pieces of her heart that she's tried to put back together in the last month fall apart again. She doesn't want to hear the words that are about to come out of his mouth, but she's rooted to the floor and it has nothing to do with the fact that he's got her backed into a corner and his body so close to her, but without actually touching.

His hand moves up slowly to push a piece of hair behind her ear, his fingers fluttering across her forehead and she can almost envision his lips pressed against the skin there like it had a million times before. "Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic. But summer's almost here, and we won't see each other at all. And then you leave town...and then...it's over." His hand lingers on her shoulder tracing light circles on the bare skin.

_I just can't do this anymore. I don't want to...I just...It's over._

"Noah." Her words come out barely above a whisper. She can't find the right words to respond to this, and the irony of the situation isn't lost on her. She had never been at a loss for words before and he had never been able to say the right words in the right moment. Yet here they were, at their senior prom and he was saying all the things she had wanted him to say months ago and expressing the things she had needed to hear Except now they were the right words at the wrong time, because he was right she was leaving and he was staying and that had always hung over their head.

"I'm sorry, about last summer." He presses his forehead against hers and closes any sense of space that had been between them and she doesn't miss the fact that her body still tingles at the contact. That she had never felt the connection with any other person in the world. "If I could do it again..."

_Is this about last summer? Because you told me to go out with Quinn, you told me to see how I felt about her, if the feelings were still there. You said you forgave me for sleeping with her._

"Come on." She forces herself back to her senses and puts a little bit of space between them, her head still tilted up to look him in the eyes. "Ruined lives? Bloodshed? You really think a relationship should be that hard?" Isn't that what it all came down to? The obstacles in their relationship. The other people in their lives. The fact that at the end of the year she has a one way ticket to New York City and she never wanted to look back. Or that she doesn't want to look back but she can't imagine leaving him behind her? That fact that she was scared that he was the one boy she would give everything up for?

"_I slept with Finn."_

He smiles at her. The first smile he's given her in months, two months and three days to be exact. It's not the smile she's used to, the one he used to give her when she rambled on or said something he thought was ridiculous. This smile was different, sad and accepting of what came next. "No one writes songs about the ones that come easy."

**A.N. So, this is a prompt was shared with me by my darling friend Miranda (who I also owe all betaing credit) and I fell in love, it's from the LJ community puckrachel. Of course it's spurred any entire set of one shots coming your way. I take no credit for the quote, or two...or three I borrowed from other things. I tied in three shows I love with another show that I love, you get a cookie if you know where the big quote is and an entire cupcake if you can spot all of them!**


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